Every company, whether big or small, shares the same goal when it comes to recruiting: hire the best of the best talent.
This, however, can be challenging, considering — among many other factors — the demand and supply for top talent, and the competition that companies are constantly in for said top talent.
It takes some ingenuity and creativity, as well as careful and thorough planning, to make sure that your company is meeting its hiring goals. And that’s what this article is for.
Indeed, we’ll explore the many different recruitment strategies that you can implement to not only attract but also retain top talent in 2024.
What is a recruitment strategy?
A recruitment strategy is a specific plan that encompasses the specific processes and actions for attracting and hiring talent, both for external and internal hiring.
Recruitment strategies can take many different forms, including basic methods like posting ads on job boards and advanced procedures like headhunting. For the best results, companies should use a combination of recruitment strategies and not rely on any one given method.
That said, it’s important to note that what works for one organization doesn’t necessarily it will also work for another organization. As such, it’s advisable to figure out what your company’s specific hiring needs are and to build a strategy around those.
The importance of strategizing your recruitment efforts
Incorporating a good recruitment strategy — or, better yet, a combination of different recruitment strategies — into your hiring efforts is crucial for the overall long-term success of your company.
In particular, here’s why you should strategize your recruitment efforts:
- You attract top talent who meet your requirements and fit your culture
- You shorten hiring times from potentially months to weeks or even days
- You reduce recruitment costs and other overheads related to new hires
- You increase brand awareness and credibility as an employer
- You provide a better candidate experience
- You retain skilled employees and reduce turnover rates
20 recruitment strategies that work
Need some inspiration? Here are 20 effective recruitment strategies to consider incorporating into your hiring efforts:
1. Implement an employee referral program
Employee referrals are a great way to find qualified candidates that have already been vetted — indeed, employees are more likely to only refer someone for a position that they know they’ve got what it takes to succeed in.
When developing an employee referral program, be sure to create specific guidelines that clearly outline procedures, expectations and reward systems. On that note, pay special attention to the incentives that you offer, which can range from anything between cash bonuses, gift cards and extra time off.
2. Engage with passive candidates
The global workforce, according to LinkedIn research, is composed of 70% passive candidates — people who aren’t actively looking for a job. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they wouldn’t consider a change if the right opportunity came along.
For this strategy, you’ll need to take a proactive approach to reaching out to potential candidates. Even if they don’t end up applying for the job you’re looking to fill, they will likely keep your company in mind when they’re next job searching in the future.
3. Create compelling job descriptions
When looking to fill a vacancy, it’s crucial that you develop a job description that clearly outlines the requirements and expectations of the role, as well as what’s on offer for employees (such as compensation and perks).
That said, make sure job descriptions are compelling enough to convince candidates to apply and that they don’t sound robotic or otherwise unappealing. To achieve this, use simple sentences, open with a captivating summary, make titles as specific as possible and write descriptions in a way that perfectly encapsulate your culture.
4. Reach out to past candidates
In your previous recruitment efforts, you’re bound to have come across a highly qualified candidate or two that really impressed you but didn’t make the final cut for one reason or another. And they might be worth reaching out to for current opportunities.
The great thing about past candidates is that they’re likely to have learned new skills and gained new experience and qualifications since your last interaction.
5. Create an effective careers page
One of the best recruitment strategies you can adopt is developing an outstanding careers page on your website. Indeed, doing so helps you showcase your company’s mission, vision, goals and, importantly, culture, which can persuade people to apply to available jobs.
A good idea is to create individual subpages that highlight perks and benefits, company culture, employee reviews, interview processes, and FAQs — in addition to lists of available vacancies.
6. Showcase employees on social media
A great way to attract employees and convince them to apply for a job with your company is to showcase current employees on social media — particularly their stories and achievements. Indeed, this will help you promote your company culture to candidates. It also helps humanize your organization.
You could publish these kinds of posts on your main company page, but it’s worth considering maintaining separate social media pages on the likes of Facebook, Instagram and X for your recruitment efforts.
7. Treat candidates as customers
Just as you would respect a customer’s time, you should do the same for job applicants. In fact, treating candidates as customers helps you demonstrate professionalism and showcase a respectful and supportive work environment, which makes candidates more inclined to want to work for you.
This extends from notifying candidates how long an interview will take (and sticking to this timeframe) all the way to making yourself available to follow-up questions. Essentially, you need to let potential employees know that you’re there for them every step of the way.
8. Post on niche job boards
While it’s perfectly acceptable to post ads on general job boards like Indeed, LinkedIn and Monster, this unfortunately sometimes results in applications from unqualified candidates. To combat this, and to ensure your jobs get seen by the right people, consider posting your ads on niche job boards instead.
For example, if you’re looking to hire a designer, make use of sites like Dribbble. Or if you have a tech vacancy, post it on TechCareers. There’s a niche job board for everything!
9. Post on social media
Social media recruiting remains a popular external recruitment method, especially when it comes to younger generations who rely on platforms like LinkedIn and X, and even Instagram and TikTok, to find job opportunities.
When using social media for your recruitment efforts, it’s important to go beyond simply posting a link to a job ad, and to instead use visuals like images and videos that creatively let potential employees you’re hiring.
10. Host recruitment events
Another effective recruitment strategy worth exploring is to host, or even attend, recruitment events, both locally and nationally — and even internationally. This is especially useful for reaching candidates in niche industries or specific locations, or who aren’t looking for jobs online.
The great thing about recruitment events is that they help you get to know candidates a little better, both in terms of personality and background, beyond their résumés.
11. Improve your interview process
The more structured and thorough your interview process, the better the candidate experience and the better are your chances of securing top talent.
There are many ways you can improve your interview process, and this includes things like using a comprehensive interview evaluation form and having diverse interview panels. You can also include peers (current employees in similar roles) in the process and avoid asking trick questions.
12. Harness the power of campus recruitment
Graduates straight of college or university will naturally be looking for their first job or internship, and campus recruitment offers you the opportunity to access early talent.
Essentially, this involves working with educational institutions to scout for talent and get to know students, and laying the groundwork for a potential working relationship in the future.
13. Keep track of recruitment metrics
The key to a successful recruitment process is to keep track of recruitment metrics and KPIs like cost-per-hire, time-to-fill and time-to-hire. Indeed, by tracking these metrics, you’ll be able make more informed recruiting — and hiring — decisions based on facts and evidence as opposed to assumptions and hypotheses.
Moreover, this will help you identify any issues, inefficiencies or discrepancies so you can swiftly address them and take corrective actions.
14. Leverage contingent workers
Another effective recruitment strategy worth considering is looking beyond traditional talent pools and into contingent workers: short-term contractors on an as-needed basis.
This kind of arrangement can be beneficial in many ways, particularly for companies currently going through mergers or other significant changes. Contingent workers are also cheaper than full-time employees, for example — and they can be a great first choice when you’re ready to fill a full-time position.
15. Use recruitment automation tools
Automating repetitive tasks of the recruitment process will help you focus on other areas that perhaps deserve more attention. Fortunately, there are many recruitment automation tools that can help you achieve this.
These include applicant tracking systems for screening résumés, scheduling software for arranging interviews, job board integrations to automate job posting, as well as analytics tools for collecting and analyzing metrics.
16. Reach out to people who have been laid off
Unfortunately, layoffs are an increasingly common phenomenon in the world of work, particularly within the tech industry. And while they are generally bad news, they can be as much a blessing as they are a curse, at least for your recruitment efforts.
Indeed, these workers who have suddenly found themselves out of a job can be approached for suitable opportunities at your own company. However, it’s important to be thoughtful and creative when reaching out to people who have been laid off — after all, it’s still an unsettling experience for them.
17. Coach hiring managers
Among the most important recruitment strategies to implement is to provide coaching to hiring managers and other recruitment decision makers. This is particularly important when you consider that most hiring managers aren’t experienced in writing job descriptions, conducting interviews and evaluating candidates, which can hinder the entire process’s success.
With the correct training, manager will be able to make better hiring decisions and create a better interview experience for candidates. It also helps enhance your business’s branding.
18. Develop a recruitment marketing strategy
Using recruitment marketing tactics (essentially strategies and tactics to find, attract and engage talent before they even apply for a job) can be good for the success of your recruitment efforts — when done right.
There are many ways you can achieve this, including career quizzes, social media campaigns and hashtags, programmatic job advertising, memes, and even print marketing.
19. Answer candidate questions online
Candidates, and even the general public at large, will always have questions about your company and its processes. And it’s a good idea to address these questions, which can do through different mediums, such as hosting “ask me anything” sessions on Reddit and getting involved on Quora.
Not only does this help you create a digital presence for your company, but it also helps connect and establish a relationship with potential employees.
20. Film a recruitment video
Video content is now king, and it’s time to jump on the bandwagon if you haven’t already. And by this, we mean filming a compelling 30-second recruitment video. The great thing about recruitment videos is that they can be repurposed on social media, TV and the company website.
Do make sure to incorporate storytelling in this video, as well as provide relevant information about the company to potential employees.
Final thoughts
Whether it’s looking for candidates online or offline, implementing effective recruitment strategies is crucial for the success of not only your hiring efforts but also your organization as a whole.
Hopefully we’ll have provided some ideas for you to try and that will help you take your company to the next level.
Got a question, or have any other recruitment strategies you’d like to suggest? Let us know in the comments section below.
This article is a complete update of an earlier version originally published in 2022.